My Weakness for Apple commercials & That Damned E-Trade Baby.

I can be pretty rabidly anti-commercial, meaning that I get angry when I feel like people are trying to sell something to me that I don't want or need. Generally speaking, I hate commercials. I watch most tv programs on my DVR, when I get around to it and it's a sublime treat to fast-forward the commercials (and the jokes on "Funniest Home Videos" - I'm only there for the clumsy dogs, baby farts and crotch hits.)

That said, there is one brand of commercials that I will stop and watch every... fucking... time.

Apple commercials.

I don't know why they capture my attention like they do. But they do. Maybe it's their simplicity or their use (or lack of color). They never make me want to run out and buy the Apple product, but I have been known to discover music through them.

I saw this commercial and immediately Googled the artist and the song and bought it off of Itunes.



Of course, it's Feist. And the song is "1234". And I really DO dig that song. The whole album "The Reminder" is actually pretty good. But that song. Well, it just puts me in a damned good mood.

Boom. I became a consumer because of something I saw in a commercial.

A few months later, the same thing happened to me, when I saw this commercial...



Again, rushed to Itunes and bought the album, a full two weeks before it released. It gave me that song, "Viva La Vida" immediately and then, in two weeks, it uploaded the rest of the album. But for two weeks, I was out cash for an album that didn't even exist yet.

I really dig the visuals that they used for that commercial. The colors and textures are so trippy and incredible. I want to get stoned and watch an entire movie using that color scheme and animation style.

It's months later and this is the latest Ipod commercial.



And of course, I fucking love THAT song too. And I'll probably need to go download that too. That song is "Around the Bend" by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. I just checked Itunes and those kids don't have a whole album yet. Just a few EPs. But they sound pretty good to me. So, I'll probably pick them up off of Itunes and bounce around the city to them.

I feel guilty for being to easily influenced by these commercials. They shouldn't drive my buying habits, but the reality is, they do. I take some consolation that in most cases I'm not buying the big ticket item that they're shilling to me. But it still feels a little embarrassing to admit that they get me with those commercials, but they do.

While we're on the topic of advertising that appeals to me for reasons that I can't explain, I have to make a brief mention of the E-Trade baby. I normally don't truck with Talking Babies. Normally it looks creepy as Hell, but for some reason, the E-Trade baby appeals to me. Maybe it's the natural posture of the baby and how the words seem to match his little mood and positioning. I don't know why it works for me, but it does.

Here's the one with the clown that you probably saw during the Superbowl this year.



But this is the first one that I saw and the one that still makes me laugh, when I see it.



I have no interest in online trading. Or having a baby. But every time I see that E-Trade baby pop up in the commercials that I'm fast-forwarding, I stop and watch it.

Now, if only there was a song that I could go download from Itunes featuring that baby singing along with a catchy beat.

Cheers,
Mr.B